The Mathematical Association of America

American Mathematics Competitions

24th Annual

AMC 8

(American Mathematics Contest 8)

Solutions Pamphlet
Tuesday, November 18, 2008

This Solutions Pamphlet gives at least one solution for each problem on this years
exam and shows that all the problems can be solved using material normally associated with the mathematics curriculum for students in eighth grade or below.
These solutions are by no means the only ones possible, nor are they necessarily
superior to others the reader may devise.
We hope that teachers will share these solutions with their students. However,
the publication, reproduction, or communication of the problems or solutions of
the AMC 8 during the period when students are eligible to participate seriously
jeopardizes the integrity of the results. Dissemination at any time via copier, telephone,
e-mail, World Wide Web or media of any type is a violation of the competition rules.
Correspondence about the problems and solutions should be addressed to:
Ms. Bonnie Leitch, AMC 8 Chair / bleitch@earthlink.net
548 Hill Avenue, New Braunfels, TX 78130
Orders for prior year Exam questions and Solutions Pamphlets should be addressed
to:
Attn: Publications
American Mathematics Competitions
University of Nebraska-Lincoln
P.O. Box 81606
Lincoln, NE 68501-1606
Copyright 2008, The Mathematical Association of America

Solutions AMC 8 2008

1. Answer (B): Susan spent 2 12 = $24 on rides, so she had 50 12 24 = $14

to spend.

2. Answer (A): Because the key to the code starts with zero, all the letters
represent numbers that are one less than their position. Using the key, C is
9 1 = 8, and similarly L is 6, U is 7, and E is 1.
BEST
0 123

OF
45

LUCK
678 9

CLUE = 8671

3. Answer (A): A week before the 13th is the 6th , which is the first Friday of the
month. Counting back from that, the 5th is a Thursday, the 4th is a Wednesday,
the 3rd is a Tuesday, the 2nd is a Monday, and the 1st is a Sunday.
OR
Counting forward by sevens, February 1 occurs on the same day of the week as
February 8 and February 15. Because February 13 is a Friday, February 15 is a
Sunday, and so is February 1.

4. Answer (C): The area of the outer triangle with the inner triangle removed
is 16 1 = 15, the total area of the three congruent trapezoids. Each trapezoid
has area 15
3 = 5.
5. Answer (E): Barney rides 1661 1441 = 220 miles in 10 hours, so his average
speed is 220
10 = 22 miles per hour.
6. Answer (D): After subdividing the central gray square as shown, 6 of the 16
congruent squares are gray and 10 are white. Therefore, the ratio of the area of
the gray squares to the area of the white squares is 6 : 10 or 3 : 5.

Solutions AMC 8 2008

3
39
27
7. Answer (E): Note that M
45 = 5 = 59 = 45 , so M = 27. Similarly,
60
320
520 = 100 , so N = 100. The sum M + N = 27 + 100 = 127.

60
N

3
5

5
3,

and

OR
3
3
60
Note that M
45 = 5 , so M = 5 45 = 27. Also N =
5
N = 3 60 = 100. The sum M + N = 27 + 100 = 127.

3
5,

so

N
60

8. Answer (D): The sales in the 4 months were $100, $60, $40 and $120. The
320
100 + 60 + 40 + 120
=
= $80.
average sales were
4
4
OR
In terms of the $20 intervals, the sales were 5, 3, 2 and 6 on the chart. Their
sum is 5 + 3 + 2 + 6 = 16 and the average is 16
4 = 4. The average sales were
4 $20 = $80.

9. Answer (D): At the end of the first year, Tammys investment was 85% of
the original amount, or $85. At the end of the second year, she had 120% of her
first years final amount, or 120% of $85 = 1.2($85) = $102. Over the two-year
period, Tammys investment changed from $100 to $102, so she gained 2%.

10. Answer (D): The sum of the ages of the 6 people in Room A is 6 40 = 240.
The sum of the ages of the 4 people in Room B is 4 25 = 100. The sum of the
ages of the 10 people in the combined group is 100 + 240 = 340, so the average
age of all the people is 340
10 = 34.

11. Answer (A): The number of cat owners plus the number of dog owners is
20 + 26 = 46. Because there are only 39 students in the class, there are 46 39
= 7 students who have both.
OR
Because each student has at least a cat or a dog, there are 39 20 = 19 students
with a cat but no dog, and 39 26 = 13 students with a dog but no cat. So
there are 39 13 19 = 7 students with both a cat and a dog.
Dog

Cat
13

19

Solutions AMC 8 2008

12. Answer (C): The table gives the height of each bounce.
Bounce

Height
in Meters
2

2
2=
3

2 4
=
3 3

2 8
=
3 9

2 16

=
3 27

4
3

8
9

16
27

32
81

16
32
32
16
> 32
= 21 and 81
< 64
= 21 , the ball first rises to less than 0.5 meters
Because 27
on the fifth bounce.
Note: Because all the fractions have odd denominators, it is easier to double
32
16
and 81
to their
the numerators than to halve the denominators. So compare 27
32
1 16
numerators fractional equivalents of 2 , 32 and 64 .

13. Answer (C): Because each box is weighed two times, once with each of the
other two boxes, the total 122 + 125 + 127 = 374 pounds is twice the combined
weight of the three boxes. The combined weight is 374
2 = 187 pounds.

14. Answer (C): There are only two possible spaces for the B in row 1 and only
two possible spaces for the A in row 2. Once these are placed, the entries in the
remaining spaces are determined.
The four arrangements are:
A B C
C A B
B C A

A B C
B C A
C A B

A C B
B A C
C B A

A C B
C B A
B A C

OR
The As can be placed either
A

A
or

A
A

A
A

In each case, the letter next to the top A can be B or C. At that point the rest of
the grid is completely determined. So there are 2 + 2 = 4 possible arrangements.

Solutions AMC 8 2008

15. Answer (B): The sum of the points Theresa scored in the first 8 games is 37.
After the ninth game, her point total must be a multiple of 9 between 37 and
37 + 9 = 46, inclusive. The only such point total is 45 = 37 + 8, so in the ninth
game she scored 8 points. Similarly, the next point total must be a multiple of
10 between 45 and 45 + 9 = 54. The only such point total is 50 = 45 + 5, so in
the tenth game she scored 5 points. The product of the number of points scored
in Theresas ninth and tenth games is 8 5 = 40.

16. Answer (D): The volume is 7 1 = 7 cubic units. Six of the cubes have 5
square faces exposed. The middle cube has no face exposed. So the total surface
area of the figure is 5 6 = 30 square units. The ratio of the volume to the
surface area is 7 : 30.
OR
The volume is 7 1 = 7 cubic units. There are five unit squares facing each of
six directions: front, back, top, bottom, left and right, for a total of 30 square
units of surface area. The ratio of the volume to the surface area is 7 : 30.

17. Answer (D): The formula for the perimeter of a rectangle is 2l + 2w, so
2l + 2w = 50, and l + w = 25. Make a chart of the possible widths, lengths, and
areas, assuming all the widths are shorter than all the lengths.
Width
Length
Area

1
24
24

2
23
46

3
22
66

4
21
84

5
6
7
8
9
10 11 12
20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13
100 114 126 136 144 150 154 156

The largest possible area is 13 12 = 156 and the smallest is 1 24 = 24, for a
difference of 156 24 = 132 square units.
Note: The product of two numbers with a fixed sum increases as the numbers
get closer together. That means, given the same perimeter, the square has a
larger area than any rectangle, and a rectangle with a shape closest to a square
will have a larger area than other rectangles with equal perimeters.

18. Answer (E): The length of first leg of the aardvarks trip is 41 (2 20) = 10
meters. The third and fifth legs are each 41 (2 10) = 5 meters long. The
second and sixth legs are each 10 meters long, and the length of the fourth leg is
20 meters. The length of the total trip is 10 + 5 + 5 + 10 + 10 + 20 = 20 + 40
meters.

19. Answer (B): Choose two points. Any of the 8 points can be the first choice,
and any of the 7 other points can be the second choice. So there are 8 7 = 56

Solutions AMC 8 2008

ways of choosing the points in order. But each pair of points is counted twice,
so there are 56
2 = 28 possible pairs.
B

Label the eight points as shown. Only segments AB, BC, CD, DE, EF , F G,
GH and HA are 1 unit long. So 8 of the 28 possible segments are 1 unit long,
8
= 72 .
and the probability that the points are one unit apart is 28
OR
Pick the two points, one at a time. No matter how the first point is chosen,
exactly 2 of the remaining 7 points are 1 unit from this point. So the probability
of the second point being 1 unit from the first is 72 .
20. Answer (B): Because 32 of the boys passed, the number of boys in the class is
a multiple of 3. Because 43 of the girls passed, the number of girls in the class
is a multiple of 4. Set up a chart and compare the number of boys who passed
with the number of girls who passed to find when they are equal.
Total boys
3
6
9

Boys passed
2
4
6

Total girls
4
8

Girls passed
3
6

The first time the number of boys who passed equals the number of girls who
passed is when they are both 6. The minimum possible number of students is
9 + 8 = 17.
OR
Because 32 of the boys passed, the number of boys who passed must be a multiple
of 2. Because 43 of the girls passed, the number of girls who passed must be a
multiple of 3. Because the same number of boys and girls passed, the smallest
possible number is 6, the least common multiple of 2 and 3. If 6 of 9 boys and
6 of 8 girls passed, there are 17 students in the class, and that is the minimum
number possible.
OR
Let G = the number of girls and B = the number of boys. Then 32 B = 43 G, so
8B = 9G. Because 8 and 9 are relatively prime, the minimum number of boys
and girls is 9 boys and 8 girls, for a total of 9 + 8 = 17 students.

Solutions AMC 8 2008

21. Answer (C): Using the formula for the volume of a cylinder, the bologna has
volume r2 h = 42 6 = 96. The cut divides the bologna in half. The
3
half-cylinder will have volume 96
2 = 48 151 cm .
Note: The value of is slightly greater than 3, so to estimate the volume multiply
48(3) = 144 cm3 . The product is slightly less than and closer to answer C than
any other answer.

22. Answer (A): Because n3 is at least 100 and is an integer, n is at least 300 and
is a multiple of 3. Because 3n is at most 999, n is at most 333. The possible
values of n are 300, 303, 306, . . ., 333 = 3 100, 3 101, 3 102, . . ., 3 111, so
the number of possible values is 111 100 + 1 = 12.

B
23. Answer (C): Because the answer is a ratio, it does
not depend on the side length of the square. Let AF = 2
2
and F E = 1. That means square ABCE has side length
3
2
3 and area 3 = 9 square units. The area of 4BAF
F
1
is equal to the area of 4BCD = 2 3 2 = 3 square
1
units. Triangle DEF is an isosceles right triangle with
C
E 1 D
2
leg lengths DE = F E = 1. The area of 4DEF is 21 1
1
1 = 2 square units. The area of 4BF D is equal to the area of the square minus
the areas of the three right triangles: 9 (3 + 3 + 21 ) = 25 . So the ratio of the
5
5
.
area of 4BF D to the area of square ABCE is 2 =
9
18

24. Answer (C): There are 10 6 = 60 possible pairs. The squares less than
60 are 1, 4, 9, 16, 25, 36 and 49. The possible pairs with products equal to
the given squares are (1, 1), (2, 2), (1, 4), (4, 1), (3, 3), (9, 1), (4, 4), (8, 2), (5, 5),
11
.
(6, 6) and (9, 4). So the probability is 60